President Biden said Tuesday that the federal government could not distribute emergency relief supplies including power generators to victims of Hurrican Beryl in Texas until the White House was able to “track down” state leaders and get their formal request for a major disaster declaration.
Biden said he had been trying to contact the acting lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, while Governor Greg Abbott was overseas to get the necessary requests to release the federal aid, which includes manpower and supplies.
When Biden did connect with Patrick on Tuesday afternoon, he said he would approve “immediately” the disaster declaration.
“The truth is, before you can ask for a declaration you have to go meet with people in the impacted areas to see what’s needed and the level of need,” Patrick said.
As of Tuesday evening, more than a million people in Texas were without power as temperatures soared. Approximately 80% of Houston, Texas’s largest city, was initially in the dark following the storm.
Abbott is visiting Taiwan, South Korea and Japan as part of a Texas delegation with five legislators and 23 business and community leaders. On Sunday, he opened a State of Texas Taiwan Office to foster trade and investment between Texas and Taiwan, and is not scheduled to return to Texas until July 13.
Sound familiar?